Autogyros

duncan · 23-03-2004

Just thought I`d get the ball rolling with a slightly off-beat r/c model that is sometimes ignored. If you fancy a trip down nostalgia lane but the usual pre-war fixed wing types dont appeal then try a "whirling wonder". No high expense of the helicopter but hovering flight and STOL. There are plans and kits and a couple of (US-based) web sites. How about a `gryo only fly-in somewhere in the UK? Who has any of the Wallis by Micro Mold or Hobbit kits that were available? DB models still kit one of El Boddo`s Twin Rotor designs. (a great flier even on floats off water). Any Gyro-Nuts here? Duncan

adzam · 23-03-2004

something i have never seen as a model to be honest , but sounds very interesting ,time for a web search !

duncan · 24-03-2004

Here are a couple of dedicated autogyro sites that I know of,www.gyronuts.com[/url] site. The www.autogyro-rc.com site sells scale and non scale kits. Check out the movie clips on that one. The best for technical data, plans, information etc is www.autogyro.com Duncan.

10-04-2004

I've had a bit of an interest in gyro's over the years and have built three or four with the intention of leading up to a scale job. First was a twin rotor Boddo followed by a couple of own designs, also twin rotor, and more recently I built an excellent direct control single rotor job called "Simple G" from a plan by Jim Baxter. This has finally pointed the way forward and makes possible any full size subject. Just waiting for a new wave of enthusiasm to take hold and get on with that Avro Rota or Kellet! There's also a nice little conversion of a Comper Swift that Cierva experimented with which really takes my fancy too...

Pix show an O/D twin rotor job which flew very well and my d/c Simple G from the Jim Baxter plan hovering on the breeze. Hope this gives you all a bit of a push into gyro's!

adzam · 10-04-2004

do these things fly well, or are they a bit ` touchy feely` to start with.?

10-04-2004

The twin rotor jobs usually fly very well. Any fixed wing pilot shouldn't have any trouble at all but the direct control single rotor jobs are more touchy. You need plenty of movement to get you out of trouble but this makes them quite sensitive during normal flight. If you have a computer radio then it's no problem, just crank in the expo' to soften the centre. No prob's. Don't think that they're really difficult to fly though, they aint, just a bit more sensitive - just like when you first fly a Fun Fly type model.

Other d/c types only have left and right roll control on the rotor. Pitch being controlled by a normal elevator at the back. These are a lot softer on control, but you can run out of elevator power at zero airspeed unless you keep on some power.

10-04-2004

Meant to say:

The direct control single rotor job is amazingly manoeuvrable. You can turn 180 degrees from high speed on the spot. No fun fly or heli' could possibly stay with it, and the speed range could only be matched by a Harrier! When you do those 180's, boy, you wanna hear those rotors! Wow!

Yep, it'd be great to have a gyro meet in the UK, but it'll take a lot of talking by people who love gyro's on boards like this to get it popular enough to warrant a meet. I just dabble, every few years the bug bites and I build something. If you're at all interested get onto www.autogyro.com like Duncan says. It's the oracle of autogyro knowledge.

13-04-2004

A few autogyro pix for Duncan. I had a folder full somewhere but it looks as though I've inadvertantly deleted it.

Anyhow still had these knocking about. Hope they enthuse you.

First is a Kellet K-2, Leo C302, Pitbull, Pitcairn-Larsen, Cierva-Comper. One day I'm gonna build that Comper! And wouldn't the Pitbull be cool?

duncan · 13-04-2004

Wowbagger yer a man after me own heart ! The Comper plans (fuz) exist in many scales...get cracking ! The Pitbull made me think of a GeeBee, must be the paint job. Earlier it was suggested that there arent too many Gyronuts this side of the pond. If the Ebeneezer Geezers can organise an international(Oz v UK) event I reckon a lot of people have had a go at gyros and would dig them out of the loft and come along. Maybe Emilio Cabezas might grace us with a visit from Spain ( guest of honour of course). Glyn Sutcliffe had pretty full article in the August 2002 edition of Aviation Modeller International, wonder if they would push the idea? There must be a venue with historic connections somewhere in the UK, any ideas. I`ll never forgive you for deleting that file .

Duncan

13-04-2004

Yeah! Emilio is the man who really cracked it for D/C single rotors. He Da Man!

Dunno if the urge will take me or not. I usually get it about every four years!

(Yeah, that too!

) Gone all 3D mad at the moment so it could be a while...

Have you seen some of the modern kit built full size gyro's? Lovely wingless Piper Cub replicas except with a rotor! Superb. Google for "autogyro" and see what you get.

People need to see them flying to get interested. One guy at our field was really interested in my Simple G. A few weeks ago he turned up with a twin rotor job built from a plan, can't remember its name, pretty unique looking thing though. Anyhows, on his first flight he shed a rotor blade and had to dump it. It survived okay and the guy was pretty chuffed that it was flying okay up until a blade fell off. So he'll be back. One more convert!

Yeah, it needs a big meet with lots of coverage in the modelling press to get people started.

Old Warden in Bedfordshire would be a nice venue. There's the museum to look at too.

I'll never forgive myself for deleting that folder too. Some pix were sent by various gyronuts over the years and I treasured them. I also deleted my entire collection of Lita Ford mp3's too. Took me ages to collect them. Oh well...